Belvedor and the Four Corners (Belvedor Saga Book 1) (46 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

After twenty minutes of meandering around the lake on the obscured path, they reached the safety of the black and blue door. The group felt more at ease after escaping the jade room without any dangers to speak of, and they chatted away in happy spirits as they crossed over the next threshold.

Stepping into momentary darkness, their eyes adjusted to the change, and everyone felt a pang of loss for the firebug-filled lantern. As their vision attuned to the dim lighting, Arianna’s breath escaped her.

They traveled a small, cylindrical tunnel which encased them in smooth, glistening, black earth. It looked as if millions of stars had been sewn into the walls, ceiling, and the floor. Her fingers trembled under the soft touch of the strange stone as they traced the rock. Glued to the walls and floor, she also saw clusters of quartz. Indigo blues, purples, and greens swirled together to make the shining crystals. Arianna smiled, the colors making her feel at peace, at ease.

She heard Lessa call from ahead. “Look, there’s a sign here.”

Arianna ran forward to where she stood. She saw a small sign plastered in the center of the wall, framed by the vibrant quartz. It carved from the same black stone of the cave, and the words were painted in iridescent calligraphy.

“Do you think you can read it?” asked Demetrius as he came to a halt with Jeom at his side.

Jeom nodded with a grimace and recited his translation, “We are Aura and Ora—the precious stones of astral journey,” he said, looking up. “It says nothing more.”

Arianna stared at the sign, bemused by the familiarity of the entire tunnel until suddenly realization dawned.

Unsheathing the dagger Solomon had given her long ago, the resemblance was uncanny. The blade glittered like tiny black diamonds on every inch of surface just like the starry cavern, and the winged handle was forged in the same swirl of colors as the crystals linings the walls.

“It’s my dagger,” she said as she examined it against the backdrop of the tunnel, the slither of yellow glinting in the jeweled center.

“Huh?” asked Lessa while she continued to study the sign along with the Kane brothers.

“My dagger… it is Aura and Ora,” she said, awestruck by yet another link to this enchanted world.

“How is your dagger Aura and Ora?” said Demetrius who had become enthralled by the natural splendor.

“I mean, the dagger Master Bell gifted me when I became his apprentice is carved of Aura and Ora,” she said in disbelief as the words trailed out of her mouth. As a young girl, she had once pondered as to the origin of her precious weapon, but the underbelly of some enchanted dwarf city had never even come close to her list of possibilities.

Lessa’s head snapped up as the words registered in her mind. “Of course! Your dagger.” She clapped her hands together. “I knew I’d seen these stones before.” She traced the outline of a giant, blue-green crystal. “Ara, that really is an exceptional gift. I’m curious as to where Solomon got it. Did he ever say?”

Arianna shook her head, amused at the thought.

“And to think it was almost lost,” Lessa said, biting her bottom lip in mock fear.

Arianna smiled and turned the dagger over in her hand. “Stones of astral journey? I wonder how they got that label.” She handed it over to Demetrius and Jeom to inspect.

“Impressive,” said Jeom. “It’s been welded with both. The stones in this cave must be very rare because I’ve never seen or learned of any weapon made of a material like this. The craftwork is magnificent.” He stroked its flanks in veneration and feigned slipping it beneath his robes.

Snatching it out of his grasp, she sheathed it back at her side.

“Aura and Ora…” said Demetrius, repeating the names over and over in a ditty. “Its name shall be Aurora!” 

“And why does it need a name at all?” said Arianna, trying not to laugh at what seemed like a serious notion.

In unison, Demetrius and Jeom gawked at her like she’d just made the most ridiculous of comments. When they realized they both reacted in the same manner, they chuckled at their uncanny brotherliness.

In a jolly mood, Lessa continued to wander down the tunnel, and Arianna followed, leaving the boys to their silly discussion.

“All weapons must carry a name! This here is Sheela,” said Demetrius as he rubbed the staff of the scythe between his fingers. He grinned at his weapon.

“Ma’am,” said Jeom, bowing low. He came back up in a fit of laughter. “My axe went by the name of L.K.,” he said, making a salute to his lost weapon.

Demetrius raised an eyebrow, sweeping his bangs back from his eyes. “What does L.K stand for?”

“Lady-Killer,” he said, nodding as if it was the most obvious conclusion of the acronym. 

Lessa and Arianna spun around at his words. “Lady-Killer!?” They both had their hands reaching for their weapons as they scowled.

“No, no, no. Don’t get me wrong!” he said, putting his hands up in surrender. “Calm yourselves, now. I’m a creator not a fighter… per se.” His grin looked sardonic as he shrugged back. “It bore the name L.K because it never failed to gain the attention of a lady. Most people in my district walked around with hammer and nails… typical.” He snorted, winking at the girls.

“You’re an idiot,” said Lessa.

Arianna agreed, and Demetrius and Jeom almost fell to their knees, shrieking in laughter at their haughtiness.

“Please,” said Jeom, running after them. “What did you think I did? Stalk around my district, slaying unsuspecting women?”

“Who knows,” said Arianna, smiling. “You did pretty well for yourself against us.” She turned her attention to Lessa. “I suppose you’ll have to choose a name as well then.”

“Boo,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I think that’s an appropriate title to pair with a ghost.” She patted the bow and arrows at her back and winked at Arianna.

The four continued babbling on like this for another ten minutes before they realized they had reached another impasse—door number six.

Hour after hour passed before they reached the end goal they had originally set out for, but they thanked the gods no more deathtraps awaited them. It seemed that their bewitched maze had finally run out of tricks as they opened door after door with no danger.

They passed through a room where amethyst crystals swallowed them on all sides and a chamber filled with natural silver that sprouted up the walls like trees. A cavern lined with crimson jasper submerged them in a pool of blood-colored stones, and they walked through a crater of ore pulsing with veins of platinum. Resting in a room of earth-toned marble, they ticked down the doors as they went. And they even climbed their way through a maze of sapphire, giving them another miraculous chance to walk on bejeweled water.

They saw caverns of sunny amber, which Sano adored, and Lessa deemed her favorite a tunnel of turquoise which seemed to twist like a vortex through a picturesque sky. Jeom drooled in the diamond mine where he tried to scoop sparkling souvenirs from the rivers, and Demetrius favored the rosy green tourmaline shooting up from the ground like crystalized buds.

Door after door, they paraded along for miles, basking in the brilliance of the precious yet neglected natural phenomena. “This one is my favorite,” said Arianna as she paused at another threshold to take in the view.

A wide, arched room spilled out in a rainbow of color like the inside of a white marble splattered in paint. It looked as if someone chiseled off a piece of all the other chambers and tossed them into a melting pot in order to create a room where each could be admired together. She walked into the polished chamber as a warm, safe feeling washed over her.

“Can we stay here forever?” she said. She threw her arms out wide and tilted her head to the vibrant ceiling. Spinning in place, her long curls and cloak spread out around her in a whirling circle. As she spun, the colors on the ceiling melted into each other until a whirlpool of hues replaced her vision. 

“I don’t think so,” said Jeom as Arianna steadied herself in place.

“Why not? What could possibly be better than this?” she said, sighing in satisfaction as she leaned on Lessa for support. Her friend nodded in approval as Sano ran around the room in playful spirit.

“That…” said Jeom as his mouth hung slack.

He gazed, unblinking, towards the same gilded door that had melted the flesh of his hand. It floated atop a twisted, black-fire opal staircase. Gold railings curved around the sides, and each step looked like a deep ginger moon had liquefied into the blackness of the universe. 

“I’m not patching you up again,” said Lessa, narrowing her eyes as Jeom flexed his scarred palm.

He clasped his hands together as if in prayer as he and Demetrius began to plot an affluent future.

“I suppose we should get going,” said Arianna. “After all, this damn door is the whole reason we came.” She hooked Lessa at her elbow and pulled her forward.

They watched as the boys made close contact to the gold.

“Last one… ready everyone?” said Jeom. His eyes lit up with anticipation as they all reached the door together. It covered in intricate patterns from top to bottom, and it attached to nothing just as the first time they laid eyes upon it.

“Ready,” said Lessa in her honeyed voice as she squeezed Arianna’s hand.

The door creaked open, and they all stepped through the gilded threshold, leaving the opulent room behind. Unfortunately for them, light seemed always to be escorted by darkness, and the gleaming chamber did nothing to shadow that fact.

“Draw your weapons,” said Arianna as the familiar stench of death filled her nose.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Death unfurled in all directions as they stumbled into the gold-plated room. Heaps of deteriorating bodies sprawled atop the floor and stairs of the vast chamber. The undersized corpses had long, stringy hair sprouting from the tops of their heads, and their shriveled skin covered in decaying dress. Some armored in mail, steel-plates, and horned-helmets while others wore only fragile fabrics and cloaks. Several types of weapons lay scattered near the bodies; axes, swords, hammers, and flails were all accounted for.

The four stood in silence as the acrid smell filled their lungs, the stench of the rotting corpses stifling. All eyes stared in disbelief at the massacre. Thousands of steel arrows lathered the room and protruded from the bodies, making it look like a slaughter.

“There has to be at least a hundred…” said Arianna as the she drew a single sword from her hilt.

“I guess we know why they never checked out,” said Demetrius with a wary voice.

“It doesn’t even look like they put up much of a fight,” said Lessa as she scanned the room. “It’s like they all just stood here and died. These people were all obviously defending something.” She shivered at the nightmarish scene.

“Dwarves… not people.” Jeom’s head bowed in grief for the golden graveyard at his feet. 

The four knew death well. They had spent the past eighteen years trying to avoid it, living in it. However, never before had they seen death in such masses. In this moment, they realized how fragile life could be, and they took a moment of silence for the fallen city. With care, they stepped around the bodies as they made their way further into the room to inspect.

Wide steps covered the walls of the octagonal chamber, leading to a balcony that encircled the entire room. Arianna tried to make out what lay atop the tall, bordered staircase, but it rose too high. She dropped her gaze to the floor, the parts not covered in rotting flesh patterned in swirls of glowing white, once a beautiful room she was sure.

As they neared the center of the room, the piles of bodies grew denser until soon they huddled around a wide, glass cylinder that reached from top to bottom of the chamber.

“I see what they were fighting to protect,” said Arianna, gazing at the object behind the glass.

She saw a double-sided axe fit for a king, and it floated on invisible strings. The handle crafted of black steel, and the blades glinted in the same metal with silver lined edges. Twisting down the length of the staff, the golden tail of a dragon ended in a lethal spike. The blades welded with the dragon’s unfurled wings, and the golden-fanged skull sat in the center baring its teeth.